Key signature

key signature

The rising and falling marks written on the left end of each line on the staff to indicate the key range used in the music. In modern European music theory, the reason why the key domain is represented by the key signature is because the European concept of key domain is often grasped through its expression on the keyboard and staff. The same natural seven-note scale, when the player selects different temperaments from the twelve temperaments to form different key ranges, will appear in different key selection methods on the keyboard. Since the notation of black keys on the staff is by adding # or b in front of the notes of the white key positions, several black keys included in the key range are also represented on the staff. Represented by a number of # or b signs. These rising and falling marks are written on the left end of each line of staff on the five-line staff and on the right side of the clef. They become the symbol of the key range used in the music and are called key signatures. . It should be added that the 6th and 7th # or b numbers do not represent black keys, but white keys. But at this time, the white key is no longer viewed in its own basic sense, but is understood as the rise and fall of the phoneme of another white key. For example, the □ represented by the sixth # sign is no longer regarded as F, but is understood as the sharp change of E. The key signature writing method is shown in the following example:

The corresponding relationship between key signature and key domain is shown in Table 1. Table of key signatures, key fields and their names. Key signatures are always composed of the same type of symbols, either all # signs or all □ signs. The writing method of key signatures, whether ascending or descending, has a certain order, but

This order is neither from low to high, nor from high to low, but according to the "chain of fifths", that is, Table 1 shows the order of each sound. The key signatures composed of # signs are arranged in the order from left to right in Table 1: #F, #C, #G, #D, #A, #E,

# B; conversely, the key signature composed of ь signs is in the order from right to left in Table 1: ьB, ьE, ьA, ьD, ьG, ьC, ьF. The number of sharps and flats that make up the key signature is up to 7. Due to the use of the equal temperament, the chain of fifths

is cyclic and can start over and over again. The six # signs and the six ь signs have the same tonal range. Each note of the scale has the same sound but a different name (equal on the keyboard but different in position on the staff). This relationship is called an enharmonic relationship. The two tones are equal to each other. This tone field is like the transition area when the chain of fifths closes into a circle. Beyond this field, the increase in sharps can be replaced by the decrease in flats. For example, 7 # signs and 5 ь signs are equal tones to each other; conversely, flat signs When the number increases, you can

replace it with a decrease in sharp numbers. For example, 7 ь signs and 5 # signs are equal to each other. The rule is: a pair of equal pitches must be of opposite types and the total number of sharps and flats must be 12.

There are many misunderstandings about the name of the key domain represented by the key signature, because it is often confused with the name of the key that also refers to the key mode. For example, the word "A key" can have two meanings: as a key domain name, it means that when A is sung according to the movable solfa method

do, all 7 natural (basic positions) are sung. The totality of those phonemes where the name is located (see the 7th row from the bottom of Table 1). At this time, the main tone is still undecided. When referring to the key of an instrument, the meaning of the word A key is just like this; as it also refers to the tonality

When the key name of a mode is used, it is the abbreviation of A major, where A refers to the tonic, and major refers to the mode it consists of. The two meanings of the same key name are seriously confused in European music theory, just like the word "some palace" in ancient Chinese music theory

It can refer to both the key domain and the mode established on a specific tonic. The confusion caused is the same. The key names written in the left vertical column of Table 1 are the key names used as key domain names. The corresponding relationship between the pentatonic scale range and the staff key signature has formed certain specifications in the recent process of using staff notation for modern Chinese folk music. The pentatonic system has only 5 phonemes in a tone range, while the heptatonic tone range represented by the key signature has 7 phonemes. The two must not match. When using the heptatonic musical notation to write down the pentatonic tunes, the two phonemes of fa and si in the movable solfa method should be left blank. , record the palace sound in the phoneme of do. When looking at Table 1, you only need to cover the two spaces fa and si at both ends of the key range of each line. The key range composed of the five phonemes in the middle is between the sharps and flats written at the left end. The corresponding relationship can indicate the corresponding relationship between each pentatonic system and the key signature used. This specification determines which tunes of different pentatonic modes can be written by the same key signature. Together with the conventions of using key signatures in major and minor keys in Europe, it forms "a key signature with seven key signatures". "Corresponding tonality and mode" are the following specifications. Take the key domain (A key) with 3 # signs as an example (see Table 2): When using the other key signatures, the relative relationship of the following five lines remains unchanged, only the 1st The note names in the rows are moved and replaced, and the note names in rows 3 and 6 are also changed accordingly.